Jon Fitch was almost choked out by Demian Maia in January -- and now he's out of the UFC altogether. Photo: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

As much as the UFC wants to be viewed wholly as a sport, it’s not completely possible.

Tim Duncan was never cut from the Spurs because he wasn’t an exciting enough basketball player. Football teams with three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offenses have not been banned from the NFL.

In most other sports, winning isn’t just everything, to paraphrase the great Vince Lombardi, it’s the only thing.

That simply is not the case in MMA, generally speaking, and the UFC more specifically. How else can you explain Jon Fitch and his 14-3-1 UFC record being released last week? Or the dismissal of Jacob Volkmann, who has won six of his last eight?

You can even make a case for Matt Riddle (7-3) still being in the UFC. Sure he’s gotten popped twice in a row for marijuana usage, but the UFC has Nick Diaz coming off a marijuana suspension right into a title shot with Georges St-Pierre, one of the company’s biggest stars.

The real reason why these guys are gone is because they’re not terribly exciting fighters. That’s the common denominator here. All three men are content to wrestle their opponent to the ground and hold them there for three straight rounds. That typically makes for a nice-looking win-loss record and some unwatchable fights.

The UFC‘s underlying statement here is that winning is not everything. It helps, but if you push the pace or enjoy trading punches, you’ll have much more job security than if you want to push your opponent up against the cage for 15 straight minutes.

This is where the sports and entertainment aspects of the UFC intersect. Is MMA a sport? Absolutely. Is the UFC in it to make money? Oh yes.

No one really wants to watch two guys laying on each other for an entire fight. That’s what I always hear from non-fans when I try to introduce them to MMA. The casual fans don’t really care about the technical aspects of ground fighting – they want to see action.

At the end of the day, it’s all about marketability. St-Pierre is not the most exciting fighter when he’s in the cage, yet he’s the UFC’s biggest draw. He looks like a star, has charisma and is also, obviously, a dominant champion. He’s not getting cut anytime soon.

Boxing has pushed marketable fighters and dropped boring ones for a long time – the Klitschko brothers notwithstanding. MMA is no different from its combat sports brother.

Maybe a boring basketball or football game is more pleasing to the eye than a boring MMA fight. Or maybe most of the world is just educated about mixed martial arts yet and this will be a moot discussion 10 years from now.

No matter how you look at it, you can’t fault the UFC for trying to put forth its most lucrative. Even when it’s not always its best. Don’t forget: Tim Duncan doesn’t play hoops on pay per view.

Pettis-Aldo superfight on tap: Kenny Florian thinks Jose Aldo has “a point” when it comes to his hesitance to fight Anthony Pettis.

The Fuel TV analyst and former UFC contender believes Aldo, as the featherweight champion, should be given “some leeway” with regards to who he fights – especially when it’s a guy like Pettis who is dropping down from lightweight and automatically being given a title shot.

“It must be a little tricky for Aldo,” Florian told The Post. “Pettis is a huge challenge for him.”

UFC president Dana White said on Fuel’s “UFC Tonight” on Tuesday that Aldo and Pettis will fight in August and if Aldo wins he’ll move up and challenge for the lightweight title. Extremely interesting. White also said that if Pettis wins he’ll have to remain at featherweight to defend the belt a few times. Same thing if Aldo wins the lightweight title.

There are some really cool fights coming up in the lighter weight classes and Aldo-Pettis has to be one of the most exciting stylistic matchups ever. They’re two of the best strikers in any division of the UFC.

“Pettis is the best striker who will have faced Aldo,” Florian said. “That’s what makes it so exciting, that’s what makes it a true superfight.”

Florian is no stranger to moving down. He was the No. 1 contender at lightweight before losing to BJ Penn and he also moved down and faced Aldo at featherweight. He cautioned that it’s not as easy as it sounds.

“How is Pettis gonna respond to the 145-pound weight class?” Florian said. “Will he have the same energy and spark? For me, I was miserable. I didn’t have the same energy and pop. It might be different for Pettis.”

Could Carano return to MMA?: Women’s MMA is all the rage lately, so maybe it wouldn’t be a total shock if Gina Carano, one of the sport’s ambassadors, returned to the cage.

UFC president Dana White said over the weekend that he has heard that the movie star, who will be in the upcoming “Fast & Furious 6” flick alongside Vin Diesel and The Rock, could be interested in making a return.

“Gina’s got her thing, and I’m happy for her,” White said. “Good for her. She hasn’t told me, but I’ve heard that she said she’d be interested in coming back (to MMA).

“I’m not going to push her. But if she wants to come back, I wouldn’t say no, either. It’d probably be a big fight. I don’t know if she’d want an immediate title shot.”

Quick jabs: Daniel Straus had to pull out of his Bellator featherweight title challenge against Pat Curran due to a broken hand and latest featherweight tournament champion Shahbulat Shamhalaev will take his place April 4 in Atlantic City. That’s an extremely good matchup coming to Revel. … UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson had to pull out of his title defense against John Moraga at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale in April because of an injury. That fight is off and Urijah Faber vs. Scott Jorgensen will take its place. That should be fun. … Jon Fitch and Jacob Volkmann have each been signed by World Series of Fighting following their UFC releases.